President Obama's strategy of doubling domestic drilling is paying off!

U.S. to overtake Saudi Arabia as top oil producer

The United States will overtake Saudi Arabia and Russia as the world's top oil producer by 2017, the West's energy agency said on Monday, predicting Washington will come very close to achieving a previously unthinkable energy self-sufficiency.

The forecasts by the International Energy Agency (IEA), which advises large industrialized nations on energy policy, were in sharp contrast to previous IEA reports, which saw Saudi Arabia remaining the top producer until 2035.

"Energy developments in the United States are profound and their effect will be felt well beyond North America - and the energy sector," the IEA said in its annual long-term report, giving one of the most optimistic forecasts for U.S. energy production growth to date.

"The recent rebound in U.S. oil and gas production, driven by upstream technologies that are unlocking light tight oil and shale gas resources, is spurring economic activity - with less expensive gas and electricity prices giving industry a competitive edge," it added.

What's this obsession with Saudi Arabian dependance? Don't you know that the USA imports more oil from Canada and Mexica than Saudi?

Bingo.

But it's easier to distract Americans from the real shaky under-pinnings of society with the "threat of terrorism from the middle east...they won't give you any more oil" than to say "we're going to be attacked by pissed off Canadians" or "watch-out - the Mexicans don't need our money anymore". Nobody would buy that.

The thing is we don't rely on the mideast. The US produces enough for itself but sells it off for a premium and then buys more from Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Nigera than Saudi Arabia.

Of course no one mentions the free Oil the US is raping out of Iraq now.

Didnt the Chinese and Russians set up shop in Iraq? I think there was an uproar over here, that we go over there, and now other countries are reaping the benefits.They also have a booming but fragile economy over there now. American car companies (and others) havenow begun to sell cars over there in record (to previous yrs) numbers.

U.S. on track to become No. 1 in oil productionBy Loren Steffy | November 12, 2012Comments 0 E-mail Print

In what will certainly fuel more hype about energy independence, the International Energy Agency said in its annual report, released today, that U.S. oil production could outpace Saudi Arabia by 2020 if current trends in hydraulic fracturing continue. The report cited a "dramatic reversal" seen in most other energy-importing countries as U.S. oil production continues to rise.

The U.S. Energy Department said the country met 83 percent of its energy needs for the first half of the year. The question, of course, is whether we can sustain it. As I've written before, hydraulic fracturing represents a huge benefit to the country, but it's also an expensive one. Part of the reason domestic production has increased is because higher oil prices have made many shale plays profitable. What we don't know is how the Saudis will respond if the U.S. substantially curbs its imports.

Saudi has long been the price cop in the global oil markets, and its not clear if the kingdom could continue in that role if the U.S. becomes more self-sufficient. If the response in the global market, though, is falling prices, we could find ourselves back on cheap imports rather than continuing to raise the billions in capital we'll need every year to maintain domestic production levels.

Before we get too excited about the report, it's worth remembering that IEA's numbers have long been suspect. Much of the data it collects come from petro-states that submit production figures that aren't independently verified. Two years ago, a whistleblower inside the agency claimed its numbers downplayed production declines from existing fields and overstated the chances of finding new reserves, in part because of U.S. influence.

The issue of decline rates is significant because production from much of the new U.S. drilling activity, both offshore and in the shale formations, comes with far steeper declines than conventional wells.

Certainly, the U.S. has made great strides in boosting domestic production in recent years, but we still have a long way to go before we can achieve energy independence. Even if we do, it raises another more pressing question: then what?

(note, it's American magazine so of course article is biased and full of RUS-hate but barking does no harm - the numbers do the talking)

But should not be pissed as said companies have a huge joint project going on involving developing new fields in Arctic are and it opens Rosneft in return door to joint drilling in America. Deal is said to be possibly worth of 500 billion HAHAH wtf

U.S. poised to overtake Saudi oil productionThe end of U.S. dependence on foreign oil is within reach.

By about 2020, the United States will overtake Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest oil producer and put North America as a whole on track to become a net exporter of oil as soon as 2030, according to a report from the International Energy Agency.

The change would dramatically alter the face of global oil markets, placing the U.S., which currently imports about 45 percent of the oil it uses and about 20 percent of its total energy needs, in a position of unexpected power. The nation likely will become “all but self-sufficient” in energy by 2030, representing “a dramatic reversal of the trend seen in most other energy-importing countries,” the IEA survey says.U.S. politics could get in the way of these trends, though.

Controversy swirls around such climate-related proposals as carbon taxes or “cap-and-trade” initiatives, environmental regulations that hamper drilling on public lands, laws against hydraulic fracturing — also known as fracking — or other new forms of energy extraction, and political barriers to such projects as the Keystone XL pipeline — all of which could hamper U.S. energy production but are favored by environmentalists and supporters of President Obama.

The IEA report gives the oil and gas sector a powerful talking point when promoting American energy: Keep the federal government out of the way, and energy independence can become reality by the end of this decade.

“The shale boom in America is just beginning. We have an unprecedented opportunity to create millions of new jobs and generate hundreds of billions of dollars for our government. With the right public policies and government leadership, this could be a game changer for the United States,” said Carlton Carroll, a spokesman for the American Petroleum Institute. “By following through on his own executive order to eliminate overly burdensome regulations, President Obama can rein in plans to impose regulatory burdens that could cost businesses hundreds of billions of dollars and chill economic growth.”

The U.S. is the world’s third-biggest oil-producing nation at about 10.1 million barrels per day last year, a figure expected to jump to more than 11 million barrels per day by 2020, the IEA predicts. Although the U.S. imports oil, it partially offsets that by being a major exporter of coal and natural gas.

Emerging technologies such as fracking and horizontal drilling have allowed the U.S. to begin taking full advantage of its vast oil and natural gas deposits in places such as the Bakken Shale, which underlies much of North Dakota, and the Marcellus Shale, beneath Pennsylvania and other states in the eastern U.S.

“North America is at the forefront of a sweeping transformation in oil and gas production that will affect all regions of the world,” said IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven.

Although the U.S. will be an oil importer for the foreseeable future, production in Mexico and Canada, with which the U.S. shares a free-trade region, will more than offset that. The promise of North American energy independence could put Mr. Obama, fresh off his re-election victory, in a delicate spot.

Throughout the 2012 campaign, he spoke favorably of more oil and gas drilling in the U.S. while pushing a long-term strategy that phases out fossil fuels in favor of renewable sources of energy, such as wind and solar power.

But many of Mr. Obama’s backers in the environmental movement are urging him to take tough action against carbon emissions and favor increased regulations, as well as the elimination of all government support, for the oil and gas industry. A carbon tax or other crushing regulations could render the IEA projections moot if the Obama administration chooses a path that makes it less profitable for companies to extract oil and gas from American lands.

The issue was a prominent part of Mr. Obama’s re-election fight with Republican Mitt Romney, who promised that, if elected, he would deliver North American energy independence by 2020 by promoting more drilling and greater use of coal. Mr. Romney also repeatedly attacked the Obama administration’s track record on energy, saying regulations had held down domestic production.

Mr. Obama responded to those attacks, as well as similar criticisms from oil and gas industry groups, by touting increases in American production. Much of the increase, however, was on private lands, where federal approval isn’t required.

The projected rise in U.S. oil production, the IEA report says, will have ripple effects around the globe. It will “accelerate the switch in direction of international oil trade towards Asia,” with Middle Eastern nations such as Saudi Arabia refocusing the bulk of its oil exports toward nations such as China, with the U.S. no longer an important customer.

But North American dominance in oil production may be short-lived. The IEA predicts that Saudi Arabia likely will reclaim its spot as the top oil-producing nation by about the middle of the next decade. Output from non-OPEC members will rise over the next few years, peaking at about 53 million barrels per day in 2015. In 2011, non-OPEC production was at about 49 million barrels per day. It will begin to fall by the mid-2020s and dip to less than 50 million by about 2035.OPEC members are expected to raise their own oil-production levels by about 8 percent from 2020 to 2035, the study says.Although the report predicts seismic shifts in global markets, it also confirms that fuels such as coal will remain irreplaceable for at least the next two decades. China’s and India’s demand for coal will continue to grow throughout the next decade, with India set to overtake the U.S. as the world’s second-largest user of coal by 2025.Mr. Obama’s promise to continue investing taxpayer money into “green” technologies — wind, solar, biofuels and others — also appears to be part of a global trend.Governments around the world subsidized renewable energy to the tune of about $88 billion last year. By 2035, government support for those fuels is expected to skyrocket to nearly $240 billion, the IEA report says.The study also projects that, by 2035, renewable sources of energy will generate nearly one-third of total electricity output worldwide. Within just four years, the IEA projects, renewable energy, led by solar power, will eclipse natural gas and become the second-largest source of power generation, trailing only coal.

President Obama's strategy of doubling domestic drilling is paying off!

U.S. to overtake Saudi Arabia as top oil producer

The United States will overtake Saudi Arabia and Russia as the world's top oil producer by 2017, the West's energy agency said on Monday, predicting Washington will come very close to achieving a previously unthinkable energy self-sufficiency.

The forecasts by the International Energy Agency (IEA), which advises large industrialized nations on energy policy, were in sharp contrast to previous IEA reports, which saw Saudi Arabia remaining the top producer until 2035.

"Energy developments in the United States are profound and their effect will be felt well beyond North America - and the energy sector," the IEA said in its annual long-term report, giving one of the most optimistic forecasts for U.S. energy production growth to date.

"The recent rebound in U.S. oil and gas production, driven by upstream technologies that are unlocking light tight oil and shale gas resources, is spurring economic activity - with less expensive gas and electricity prices giving industry a competitive edge," it added.

Let me spell this out for you by writing in big LETTERS SO YOU PAY ATTENTION;

VIRTUALLY ALL INCREASES IN DOMESTIC OIL DRILLING IN THE UNTIED STATES HAVE BEEN DONE ON PRIVATE LANDS THROUGH PRIVATE BUSINESSES. IN FACT, OBAMA HAS DONE EVERYTHING HE CAN TO STOP OIL DRILLING IN THE UNITED STATES. FINALLY, RIGHT AFTER THE ELECTION, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCED THAT IT WAS PULLING BACK ON A DEAL THAT WOULD ALLOW SEVERAL THOUSAND ACRES OF GOVERNMENT OWNED LAND TO BE USED FOR OIL DRILLING CITING ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS.

Only morons like you could possibly be duped into believing Obama's nonsense. Between oil drilling and fracking, we should be energy independent already. But guess who is overwhelmingly opposed to both?